Van Gaal: I can handle pressure and we can still win the league

Louis van Gaal insists Manchester United can still win the Premier League title this season and insists he’s working hard to overcome the pressure he’s currently under.

The United manager is under increasing pressure following their worst run of form in 26 years, with the club winless in eight and in their lowest position since the 1989-90 season.

On the pressure he’s currently under, Van Gaal – known as the Iron Tulip in his native Holland for his unbreakable resistance under pressure – told a press conference on Thursday:

“I’m doing always work. You have to do what you have to do. My staff are asking to help but you help me by doing your job well.

“This isn’t the first club that I’ve had a bad period, maybe the last but not the first. The fans are the best. We need to win.”

United were top of the table last month, but have slipped to sixth in the standings after a poor sequence of six league games without a win.

“We need to win because we want to be at the end (of the season) in the top of the league, and not the middle of the league,” the United manager continued.

Van Gaal added: “I don’t know if the pressure has gone. The pressure is what you experience by yourself, but the players are more important because the pressure is on them at a certain time and that is the most important period in the 90 minutes.

“Players have to perform at a certain time and that is the most difficult aspect of a player’s function.

“You have to cope with the pressure, that’s what I’m explaining. The way we played under that pressure was fantastic.”

Van Gaal felt United did enough to beat Chelsea and has shrugged off their lack of goals of late.

“We’ve had many games like that,” he said of the 0-0 draw against Guus Hiddink’s side on Monday. “The way we’re playing, we’re almost always the dominant team.

“Goals are the most important thing. Our problem is to score.

“I wasn’t surprised because of the big pressure that we missed chances.”